1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicular telephones and, more particularly, to vehicular telephone for passenger use having an improved user interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Credit card telephones for use by passengers in multi-passenger vehicles such as airplanes are well known. A credit card telephone is typically installed in the bulkhead or the seat back of the passenger seat in front of the user. The telephone includes a handset, a credit card reader, and a housing for the credit card reader and the handset. When the passenger or user inserts a credit card into the credit card reader, he or she may initiate a telephone call using the handset.
Until recently, while a passenger could initiate a telephone call using a telephone within the vehicle, the passenger was unable to receive a telephone call made by a party from outside the vehicle. In the case of an airplane, the passenger was unable to receive a call from a party not on the airplane. Recently, however, some airplanes include the capability of assigning a particular passenger a passenger identification code associated with the passenger=s seat location such that the passenger can be notified of an incoming telephone call. The passenger is notified through a call notification signal, and some type of calling party identification information is provided to the passenger on board the vehicle subsequent to call notification. Once the passenger has received notice of the telephone call, the passenger may insert his credit card into the credit card reader and return the phone call.
Such vehicular telephones which allow incoming calls, however, suffer from several drawbacks in their passenger notification and user interface features. Typically, the call notification mechanism is a ringer of some kind that emits an intrusive and attention-getting sound when an incoming call is received. While such ringers are adequate to notify the relevant passenger of an incoming call, they are disadvantageous in that they also disturb other passengers who may be disinterested in being notified of someone else=s incoming call. Accordingly, in order to avoid disturbing other passengers, carriers typically disable or turn down the volume of the ringers to a degree that the ringing will not disturb the other passengers. This, however, has the undesired effect of preventing the target passenger of being notified of the incoming call, because a low volume ring may be lost within the cabin background noise. Also, some passenger telephones are equipped with a small LED or LCD display screen to provide, for example, a caller identification function. While call notification on such a screen could be provided, such a visual cue is easily overlooked unless the passenger happens to be staring directly at the telephone or display, which is unlikely if, for example, the telephone is located in the seat=s armrest.
Therefore, an improved vehicular telephone apparatus and method is desired which provides an improved user interface. More particularly, an improved vehicular telephone apparatus and method is desired which reliably notifies a target passenger of an incoming call while not disturbing neighboring passengers.